U.S. Pat. No, 4,695,327, describes a process for removing impurities from microrecesses on surfaces, such as semiconductor wafer surfaces. A condensable solvent vapor is introduced to a chamber until a partial pressure just below the vapor pressure is reached. After several molecular layers are adsorbed in the microrecesses, the solvent partial pressure is increased above the vapor pressure to condense liquid solvent in the recesses. The removal of photoresists by combination of the solvent with a strong oxidizing agent is also described.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,536 describes the use of a vapor comprising sulfur trioxide and water, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,799 describes the use of a vapor comprising ammonia, water and/or hydrogen peroxide, to remove photoresist from semiconductor wafers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,415, discloses a solvent extraction process where separation is improved by flashing the solvent at a pressure below its vapor pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,196, discloses the use of a gas maintained under super critical conditions for separating organic compounds from mixtures.